Ayame's Change
by BML Hillen-Keene
Summary: Ayame undergoes a very strange change. No one can understand how it happened. Is there something more sinister going on? How will Hatori and Shigure cope?
1. Chapter 1

_Ngh, well, I had to write this. It is cute, well, I thought it was. It's like a curse on top off a curse. umm... yeah. It's been bouncing round in my head for three nights now, and it must be written so it can stop annoying me Dammit!!! So, read, review and enjoy. my formatting, spellings and captial letters are crap at the mo. sorry!_

Ayame's Change

Hatori picked up the phone with an air of annoyance. he was long overdue one of these annoying phone calls from one of his old friends. they always seemed to call at the most obscure of times to tell him the most obscure of things. but, he was by now quite used to it. they had done it throughout school as well. and though he would never admit it out loud, he rather enjoyed the calls. it connected him somehow to the outside world, to a free life away from Akito's constant sickness. His friends brought a light to the gloom that surrounded him, and he liked that. but, he was in the middle of very important paperwork, and he didn't really have time. he glanced out the window as he pressed the phone to his ear. it was winter, and the snow was falling heavily. so this would probably be Ayame, to complain about how tired he was, how cold it was, and how he was confined inside until the snow ended. Doctors orders.

Because Hatori knew what Ayame would do if given free rein, prance around like an idiot until he transformed and got sick. that was not something he wanted to go through again. the first time had been more than enough of a deterrent. Shigure even lent a hand in keeping Aya in one place until it was warmer. Yes. That one incident had made them both very careful when it came to their friend's health.

"Hello?" he asked, bracing himself for Ayame's normal barrage of greetings.

"Hari, do you have a minute?"

Hatori put his pen down immediately at the tone in Shigure's voice. it was their unofficial code for 'trouble' and it was normally serious if they ever used it. Normally Shigure would just ask for whatever he wanted, or told him about the problem. 'Do you have a minute' denoted he needed his full attention. "Yes." Hatori responded slowly. "What happened?"

"Hari, its Aya." Shigure spoke quietly; the sounds of the three teenagers could be heard in the background.

"What about him?" Hatori asked, keeping his voice calm, though his heart leapt into his throat.

"He's missing Hari. Mine called me from his house ten minutes ago. She said she went to leave him over some clothes he had to make like he'd asked her a few days ago. He wasn't there. She said she thought he might have stepped out. She went back today because he wasn't answering his phone and she needed the clothes for a customer. He wasn't there, and the clothes she'd left haven't been touched and the apartment is cold, like the heating went out and wasn't put back on. Aya's not that forgetful Hari, not in winter." Shigure explained quickly.

"I'll be over in ten minutes." Hatori said, hanging up the phone quickly, grabbed his winter jacket and hurried out to his car. It took twenty minutes at the very least to get to Shigure's house normally. But normal didn't include finding his cousin possibly frozen to death because of some fault. Because Shigure was right, Ayame wasn't that forgetful. Not in winter. Not when he knew they worried about him. Ayame was a lot of things, but he would never intentionally cause someone to worry over him. It wasn't his style.

Eleven minutes later he pulled up to Shigure's house, the dog opened the door and hopped in without so much as a backwards glance at the three teenagers staring at him like he was crazy. They took off towards Ayame's house. Because every second counted, Ayame could have been in a freezing apartment now for nearly a week, transformed and unable to come for help. With any luck, he had curled up somewhere warm and was hibernating. The last thing Hatori wanted was for them to find Ayame had gone out and transformed and was now lost somewhere in the city under the snow... No, he couldn't think that.

"Hari..." Shigure tried to ask, but he lost his voice.

Hatori glanced over at his cousin. "He'll be fine Shigure."

Shigure blinked and smiled ever so slightly. "I hope so Hari." he sighed heavily. "How could it have happened though? He knows we worry about him when it snows. he wouldn't have gone out. He always calls one of us if he needs anything--"

"Shigure!" Hatori cut him off. "It's not your fault. If the heater failed and he transformed I'm sure we'll find him in one of his drawers or his bed or something. He'll be fine." all he could hope was that he wasn't lying.

They pulled up outside Ayame's little two up two down house. Shigure had opened the door and was on the pavement and running to the door, fumbling for the extra set of keys he had in case of emergencies, before the car had even pulled to a stop. Hatori wasn't far behind him, catching the door before it closed and latched him out. "Ayame!" Shigure called, as if calling would get a response if Ayame was in hibernation mode.

Hatori paused. "Where's his assistant?"

"I told her she'd better get back and look after the shop for him and that we'd find him." Shigure said dismissively. "Honestly Hari, give me some credit. Aya!" he called again.

"Shigure, start upstairs would you, in his bedroom. Look everywhere he could possibly have fit into to hibernate." Hatori told him.

Shigure nodded and headed towards the stairs.

Hatori looked around before he headed towards what could be termed Ayame's living room. It doubled as his design room, and was littered with fabric and sketches. If Ayame had transformed in here there were plenty of places he could hide. And be a little warm. He prayed they would find Ayame in the house, and safe, he didn't know, in all honesty what he would do if they didn't find him. He started moving the sketches aside carefully; Ayame would never forgive him if they were damaged, not with the amount of effort he took with them. As he moved them, he had to admire Ayame's artistic nature, just a little, despite the situation. He could remember Ayame drawing since they were children; he had a few pictures the snake had presented him with hanging in his office. One for graduation; one for getting his medical degree; one to celebrate his newfound happiness with Kana, and one he had gotten to cheer him up after the disaster with Kana. He knew Shigure had quite a number as well; one for the first novel he ever published, Ayame was always presenting them with little things like that.

Hatori shook himself, he was thinking like Ayame was dead r something. And he wasn't. Because Hatori refused to believe that! He started to move the fabric when Shigure yelled for him from upstairs. He took off at a run.

Shigure was standing at the door to Ayame's bedroom, holding one of the blue towels from the bathroom.

"Shigure?" Hatori asked, swallowing hard.

"He was in the bathroom, the water was running, it was freezing."

"He wasn't in there!"

Shigure shook his head. "No, but he was curled up in a towel just outside the shower door. I think he just made it there before he fell asleep." he handed the fluffy towel to Hatori, who opened it slowly. Ayame's snake form was curled up so tightly that he looked half the size he normally should. Hatori put it down to him being cold. He reached in and stroked along the cool skin. Much to his relief Ayame twitched under his touch. He wrapped the towel back up and handed it to Shigure. "Let's take him back to the main house." he said softly.

The trip back was quiet, with the heater turned up, Shigure holding the little bundle with the snake close, mumbling softly to it. Hatori concentrated on driving. Hoping with all his heart that this would not be a repeat of the 'incident'. He spared a glance for Shigure; he knew his friend would never survive if anything happened to Ayame, to tell the truth he didn't think he would either. They had been friends for far too long. When they got back o Hatori's Ayame was laid out on the bed, layer upon layer of blankets piled around him. The only thing they could do was warm him up. Make him transform back. Then he could start to treat him.

Hatori and Shigure sat side by side on the sofa, Hatori was watching the mound of blankets, hoping the sleeping snake would transform back. Shigure was slowly pressing his home phone number into the phone on a nearby table. He pressed the receiver to his ear and sighed.

It was picked up almost immediately.

Hatori half listened to the conversation.

"Oh, hello Tohru... no, no, don't worry yourself. I'm just calling to tell you I won't be home for a few days, maybe more... No, it's nothing to concern yourself with. Just tell Yuki and Kyo to mind the house next they fight... mmhmm, I'll let him know. Yes, of course. Goodbye." he hung up. "Tohru say's hello." he informed Hatori quietly.

"Hm." Hatori responded, equally quiet.

Though neither wanted to, their minds were drawn back in time, to the last time they had both been sitting in this very room, waiting form Ayame to transform back.

It had been four years previously, during a particularly bad winter. Hatori had been busy, too busy to spend any time with his two best friends. Shigure had been finishing his latest novel and torturing his editor. So neither of them had noticed that Ayame seemed to be coming down with something. Ayame had finally come to Hatori, somewhat worried, but Hatori had waved him off, knee deep in cases of the flu and pneumonia from idiots who refused to stay indoors in the middle of snowstorms. He had been convinced Ayame was faking it to get some attention. He'd never thought it again, that was for sure. because Ayame had collapsed right outside the door, and, not wanting to bother Hatori further had slithered into the closest plant pot and curled up, drifting asleep. It was Shigure who had found him that very evening when he came over with a cold complaint. By the time Ayame had been warmed back up and changed back he had developed a fever of epic proportions. He had been in Hatori's for over a month with fevers, chills. It had taken until spring for him to recover his normal vibrancy. Shigure and Hatori had since then kept a very close eye on Ayame's condition during winter.

But now...

They hadn't done enough obviously.

(_don't worry, this isn't a really serious angsty story, so chill_)

x

sleep fell over them easier than they had thought possible, they ended up sprawled over one another on the sofa waiting for the 'poof' that would signal Ayame had changed back, and Hatori could look after him properly. however the 'poof' woke them and brought them both scrambling to their feet and towards the bed.

"Ayame?" Hatori said, reaching out towards the mound in the blankets.

He froze when he heard a sniffling and a tiny mumble. The mound turned slowly. Shigure looked at him in askance. Hatori shook his head, something wasn't right here, and he didn't think it was just the fact that Ayame could possibly have a very bad fever that could cause him to whimper. No, there was something else. With great purpose, he pulled the blanket down far enough to uncover Ayame's face.

What neither man expected was for Ayame to look so young, so small. Shigure tugged the blankets away completely, getting a very bad feeling, his eyes widening.

This was not Ayame, this was a... this was a...

Shigure fainted.

Hatori barely had the presence of mind to cover the little body again with the blankets before he practically fell into his chair, eyes wide and very confused.

What had just happened?

tbc

_umm... forgive me, please. Firstly it wasn't supposed to be so dramatic at the start, so the rest of the story might seem very crap for you, but please just give it a chance. I think it could prove to be very very cute. ngh... sorry again!_

_Review please!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Yes, I'm afraid I have made darling Ayame into a child. Why? Simply because I have yet to read a story with him as one (despite what reveiwers tell me about there being lots of them). I happen to enjoy chibi's they're cute. Besides, can you just see Hatori and Shigure looking after a mini Aya? Yeah, my thoughts exactly. But not everything is going to be easy. What has Akito got to do with what happened?_

_Read, review and Enjoy--if you don't like I won't hold it against you, but please don't flame._

Hatori had moved Shigure to the small sofa and laid him out before setting to work on Ayame, giving himself the time he needed to adjust his mindset slightly to accommodate this strange occurrence. Living under the Zodiac Curse gave him a great respect for other kinds of magic, though logic dictated that magic did not exist. Though, logic also dictated that people didn't turn into animals when hugged by the opposite sex. So yes, Hatori ad room under all that logic to believe in magic. Because there was nothing else that could possible explain why Ayame was now a... Biting his lip, he returned to the bed, studying the small, flushed face carefully, searching for something, anything, that could explain this, something to tell him that this wasn't Ayame. But it was exactly the face, the hair, he could remember from they were children.

Slowly gold/green eyes fluttered open, gazing unfocusedly at Hatori for a long moment before closing again. "'Tori..." was mumbled almost too softly to hear, in a way that melded both Hatori's and Shigure's voices in one perfectly. Exactly as Hatori remembered it.

There was no mistake. This was Ayame.

He reached out and smoothed down the ruffled silver hair. "It's ok Aya, your ok."

When he was sure Ayame had drifted back to sleep Hatori back his examination, checking his temperature, pulse, and breathing. Anything he could possibly think of. He finally decided that Ayame was fine, well, as fine as he could possibly be when he was suddenly a...

"Hari..." Shigure moaned from behind him.

Not looking back, tucking the blankets around Ayame more securely, Hari replied. "Yes?"

"Tell me I just dreamed that!" the dog begged.

Hatori sighed, which was all the answer Shigure really needed. He jumped to his feet and joined Hatori at the bed. Looking down at the face of the small child, he frowned deeply. "Hatori, how?" he asked helplessly. "This isn't possible."

Hatori sighed again. "Well, apparently it is. Because this is Ayame." the doctor made his way over to a little cabinet that held the files of all the zodiac members, rummaging for a moment before pulling out Ayame's. He flicked back to the front of the document, stopping when he reached where the last family doctor had written about the boy. There was hardly anything. But then, he already knew that. Ayame's parents had never bothered taking the snake to the doctor if he ever had a problem. This could prove very difficult, because Hatori had not had the idea of becoming a doctor in his head when they had been that age, and he couldn't remember if the snake had had many medical problems back then.

Of course, he recalled the incident with the ADHD medication when Ayame had been six, the snake had been so ill for a year, and had nearly died. But before that he could remember nothing.

"We'll need to see Akito." Shigure said quietly.

The boy on the bed mumbled and turned away when the gods name was spoken.

"I know." Hatori replied. "But not until he's better. Akito will want to see him immediately."

Shigure nodded. "How did this happen Hari? How does someone just become a child again?"

Hatori stilled for a moment. "I don't know Shigure. We will ask when we see Akito."

Shigure sighed, staring down at Ayame. "I don't understand." he said after a few minutes silence. And he truly didn't, because this was so outlandish, so, unreal, that it just couldn't be understood. He didn't know if even Akito could understand it. Turning his thoughts from that he looked to Hatori. "Will it be permanent?" he asked.

"I don't know Shigure." Hatori snapped.

Shigure sighed, knowing he was annoying his friend, but he could think of nothing else he could possibly do. "If it is permanent--" which he hoped it wasn't. "Will we have to teach him how to speak again?" he asked, curious, and mostly to himself.

Hatori looked over. "He said my name, and by my reckoning, he's about five, so he should be able to say most things. I'm sure we had him speaking almost correctly by the time he was six."

Shigure hid a smile. "He drove you absolutely nuts I remember, you and your almost perfect diction at four, and the way he used to only say parts of words and mispronounce them. It was priceless!" Shigure chuckled, looking back down at the sleeping child.

Hatori shared a small smile with him over that, glancing over, noticing that Shigure's hand had, of entirely it's own violation, reached down to stroke Ayame's hair. It was an interesting scene, and one he had to smile again at, he could never recall Shigure doing anything quite so... there wasn't a word that could explain it, not really. Though the word 'motherly' did spring to mind. He turned away before he started to snicker at the thought and put the file away again, knowing it was useless. He would need to start another one until they knew what was going on.

Shigure watched as Hatori pulled a few sheets of 'doctor' paper towards him and started to jot down notes quickly. Shigure moved away from the bed, removing his hand with some reluctance, he returned to the sofa to wait. It was all they could do. Maybe when Aya woke up he would remember what happened, maybe this really was all a dream, and if he went back to sleep again he would wake up and Ayame would be normal again. With that thought in mind Shigure curled up on the sofa, eyes trained on the bed until he started to drift off to sleep.

Hatori cast a glance over an hour later and sighed, wishing he shared Shigure's conviction that this was all just a dream. But he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more going on, something almost magical... no, darker than that, curse like about what had happened to Ayame. He worked for a few more hours, jotting all this thoughts down on paper, trying to reach some conclusion. Taking a short break from writing to check up on the sleeping boy, before returning to his paperwork. He fell asleep soon afterwards.

x

Hatori woke up to wide Gold/green eyes staring into his, scowling irritably, he turned slightly. "It's too early Ayame, go away." he turned his head, only then noticing he was on the sofa. But hadn't he fallen asleep at his desk? And wasn't Ayame supposed to be... he bolted upright immediately, startling the child, who scrambled backwards with a small cry.

"Hari, really!" Shigure scolded, scooping the boy up in his arms, letting the little arms wrap round his neck securely. "He only wanted to say good morning, didn't you little Aya?" the dog turned a smile to the boy.

The boy, Ayame, Hatori forcibly reminded himself, smiled in return, a surprisingly shy smile that Hatori could never remember. The only smiles he could ever recall from Ayame were his 100 watt one's that lit up the room in an instant. "Good morning Ayame." Hatori said quietly, his eyes sliding to Shigure, the dog seemed to be taking this rather well, giving he had fainted when they had first discovered that Ayame had changed.

"'Moori' 'Tori." Ayame smiled again, eyes dancing merrily, though there was a slight flush over his features.

Hatori immediately went into doctor mode, getting up and taking the boy from Shigure and taking him back to the bed. Ayame was dressed, he noticed, in some winder clothes that were too big for him; they looked a little like Hiro's. Hatori made a mental note to ask Shigure about it. he took his temperature again, and listened to his lungs, making sure nothing had changed while he had been asleep. Just a slight fever, a lot better than he had expected after however many days in a freezing cold house.

"'Tori,"

"Yes?" Hatori asked, looking down at the bowed silver head, waiting patiently, knowing better than to rush Ayame even after all these years.

"K... Ka-n I g' pwa'?" came the tiny request.

Hatori almost said no, but when Ayame turned those impossibly huge pleading eyes on him, he relented. "All right, but you are not to leave the house for any reason, and if you feel sick you come back in here immediately." he order, tone stern.

"'Esss 'Tori." he almost hissed the 's'.

Hatori lifted him back off the table, letting him scamper off into the next room. He turned to Shigure. "You're taking this surprisingly well now, why?" he asked.

Shigure shrugged. "No use crying over spilt milk. Besides, you saw those eyes!"

"Yes, yes I did." Hatori hid a smile. "The clothes?"

"I woke up earlier, figured that since he hadn't changed back to our Ayame I'd best find him something to wear. I went to Hiro's and borrowed some. They'll do until we can work out how to change him back." the dog smiled. "How is he? He seemed fine earlier, but how is he really?"

"Slight fever, no difficulty breathing. He'll be fine in a few days. I don't know how." Hatori sighed. "We'll have to take him with us when we go to see Akito." he said slowly.

Shigure almost flinched at the very thought. "I know. I just don't want Akito to make him stop talking."

Hatori sighed again. He remembered that time well. when they were six, and Ayame had finally been able to say most things without either hissing his way through his 's' or skipping letters out, and mispronouncing. Everything had been fine, until the three had been called before the last god, before Akito had been born, Ayame had gotten nervous, so his speech slipped, and he couldn't understand what the god wanted him to say. The god had said some cruel things, and Ayame had stopped speaking for almost two months before his friends could finally coax a few words out of him. It was part of the reason Hatori and Shigure now went out of their way to distract and work under Akito closely now, so she never got that chance to call Ayame in, because even today his speech slipped away from him almost completely when he got very nervous or afraid. Both of which were very rare occurrences. Well, had been. Now?

Hatori glanced at the clock. He would have to go and check on Akito soon anyway. "Shigure, could you watch him for a while. I'm going to try and get us an appointment with Akito to discuss this situation."

Shigure nodded and headed towards the next room, Hatori's living room, where he could hear Ayame playing with the curtains by the big windows. He heard Hatori pick up the phone and the start of his quiet conversation with Kureno. He stepped into the room fully.

"'Gu'!" Ayame yelped, rushing towards him happily.

Shigure lifted him up as he came close. "Yes, 'tis I the mighty 'Gure." he smiled. It suddenly struck him as odd that Ayame accepted he and Hatori almost immediately, most children would not accept any adults this quickly. He didn't remember anything of his life before the moment he had woken up. It was as if Ayame had always been this age. Shigure had asked him questions after he had woken up, but got nothing. He seemed to know exactly who they were though. It was very confusing. He would have to ask Hatori about it.

He would also have to remember to keep his sentence's short and easily accessible for the snake. Hatori was the only one Ayame had ever been able to understand when he spoke in long, drawn out sentences. Not that it happened often. Hatori said it had something to do with the flow of his voice, Ayame just picked it up better. It had taken awhile, but finally Aya had become familiar enough with Shigure's own 'voice flow' that they could have their long winded flirting sessions complete with a million flowery phrases.

You see, what people didn't realise about Ayame was the fact that he was deaf, completely and utterly unable to hear a single audible thing. But that did not mean that he didn't know what you were saying. Like his snake counterpart (who was also deaf), he could sense vibrations, and could see quite well. He had become an excellent lip reader over time. But Hatori and Shigure had learnt that Ayame picked up words and sounds through vibrations, which was why he mispronounced things so frequently in his youth. Everyone had thought him retarded in those first few year of his life before Shigure and Hatori had become his friends, calling him all manner of cruel names because he could not understand what they wanted. Too many vibrations Hatori had explained when they were older; all crisscrossed so he didn't know what words belonged to which person. That's where his recognition of their 'voice flows' came in handy, they were the only one's who could talk to Ayame in a crowded room and get a response to their questions.

He wondered briefly if they would have to go through it all again, or find him friends who could be patient enough with him, if this was permanent. He turned when he heard Hatori leave his office.

"We have to go now." was all the doctor said.

Shigure nodded. "Come on little Aya. We have to visit Akito now."

Ayame almost flinched at the name, and Shigure wondered why.

x

They entered Akito's audience chamber and kneeled before him, Shigure keeping a protective hand on Ayame's little shoulder as the child had started trembling the second they had stepped through the doors.

"And what do we have here?" Akito asked, a hint of amused knowledge in her voice, that made the two adults look up at her, suspicious. "Could that possibly be the slimy little snake?" she laughed. "He is quite small now. Whatever happened?"

She knew something, that much was very certain from her tone.

"We do not know Akito." Hatori intoned softly. "W had hoped you could tell us." he pressed on.

Akito smiled, it had a malicious edge to it. "And why would I know what has happened to your precious little snake?"

That made Shigure frown. 'Our precious little snake' he thought. That had to have some meaning. But everything with Akito was riddles.

"Come here child."

Both men froze at the order, and Ayame looked at them quickly at back at Akito, before he slowly got to his feet, knowing better than to refuse an order from the god, even if he didn't completely understand it. He made his way slowly towards the menacing presence of Akito, emitting a tiny cry when she lunged forwards, grabbed his arm and pulled him in close to her. She smirked when she saw the Dragon and the Dog move as if to stop her.

She stroked the snake's hair slowly, studying him. She had never really liked the snake, had never had much use for him, but she knew of his importance to her two favourites, and of his relation to her little pet rat. For that reason, and that reason alone she had decided to leave him be. Her smile twisted slightly, as her fingers did in the boy's hair, elicting another small cry. She enjoyed the loyalty's that warred on her creatures faces, before they reluctantly settled back again. Turning slightly she looked at the boy carefully. With ease, she shoved him away from her and lounged back, watching him scramble backwards between Hatori and Shigure, who moved just enough to offer pretence of protection. She would have laughed, but things were serious now.

"I hadn't expected it to work quite so well." she admitted with a cruel smile, its deepened when she saw her favourites eyes widen. "Yes, I placed a little curse on the snake. I could remove it now." she offered, but cut them off before they could speak. "But--" she enjoyed toying with them. It was the only fun she really had. "But... I don't think I want to."

"But Akito--" Shigure began.

"What? You do not like him? I find him rather cute. Perhaps I should keep him if you do not want him." She could think of all manner of things she could do with the little reptile.

"He is ill Akito, he needs to be tended." Hatori put in gently, feeling his protective instincts go into overdrive at the thought of what she could do to Ayame, as she had done with Yuki, he hadn't been old enough to stop that, but he would not allow it to happen again.

Akito pouted, but even that seemed twisted now. "Really Hatori, all you had to say was that you wanted to keep the little beast," her eyes lit up when Ayame flinched at the term used to describe him. "I will let you keep him, for now. Go."

Her order left them with no chance to ask her if she would ever change him back to his adult form. "You'd best take good care of him. There are many things that are quite dangerous to a child of his age."

Shigure unconsciously tightened his grip on Ayame's small hand.

No one spoke as they made their way back to Hatori's rooms. The two men lost in their own thoughts, and the child glancing back at the doors that now hid the one her feared the most.

_umm... not really sure what just happened there. I just couldn't stop writing. I'm not entirely sure where this is going, and I don't know why it's going the way it is. You may have to bear with me for longer than I thought, and for that I apologise. I've never read the manga, only seen the anime, but everyone says Akito is a girl, so I'm going with that. And snakes can't hear, I looked it up. I made up all the rest of the stuff though. Sooo... review, huh?_


End file.
